ThunderStruck
by DashieXSoarin
Summary: Normally, most Bronies live in a small environment with friends who are also into the show, and don't share much with anyone outside the pony circle. Not me. I walk around, showing off my pony shirts, wanting everyone to know that I was a Brony and proud. Then a cataclysmic event whips my life around and distorts reality. My OC takes and enjoys life. Please enjoy my story.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ponies.

One of the fantastic conundrums of today's society.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Thanks Lauren Faust.

Bronies. Fancy that. A brony writing about his own fandom. How quaint.

Oh yeah.

I'm Curtis.

Brony, nerd, geek, Otaku, and any other description you might give someone like me.

Insane. Weird.

Differnet.

Eh, any number of significant combination of letters and phrases could ultimately lead you to me.

Back to this.

Sitting in my bedroom, one in the morning, watching pony videos on YouTube. Isn't that what most people do on YouTube these days?

Back to me.

Writing what I had hoped to be a published book some day. Then getting on the internet and reading pony fanfiction.

Oh yeah, for the record, I will not argue with the fact that Rainbow Dash is the, without exception, best pony. No valid argument can be made against her. She always will be the best, and I know I just started World War 3 with me and the people who are reading this.

So yeah, you probably aren't interested in my story anymore. All I'm talking about is me, me, me, and, hey, more me.

Let's say something interesting.

Suppose I told you that through the event of a cataclysmic disaster, I was a pony in Equestria.

Would you believe me?

Of course not.

But that's how all fanfiction starts. A war. A bomb. A well placed bullet.

None of these were the case. Well, not really.

A bomb was sort of involved, but not to the degree that you are thinking of.

I had been working on a miniature project of mine.

I had become intensely invested in the deconstruction and reconstruction of computers. I had taken apart my own laptop and rebuilt it a few times, memorizing the process.

I was trying something new.

Fusing my dad's 1998 work laptop and a 2000 desktop computer together.

It was not fun work.

Many a cut, bruise, stab, and frustration was involved.

I don't recommend it unless you have a patient personality.

So let's skip from one in the morning to the next evening. Me, sitting at my desk, working on the computers. Family downstairs, me sitting being a loner in my own family.

I liked it that way.

So when I opened the power core for the desktop computer, a steel cage containing a fan, a high voltage battery, and multiple cords, and a various assortment of copper wiring.

Warning: High Voltages inside, risk of Electric Shock, do not open.

I opened it :3

Never do that at home.

I was pulling out the wires, carefully, and a resistant wire blocked my path. A swift jerk pulled it out, and the hot copper fused with the metal in the wires as they collided.

An extremely high electric shock scratched through my arm, and through the rest of my body, rushing my heart and stopping it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I saw nothing, felt nothing, heard nothing. I had no idea what the hell had just happened, and I was suddenly having a feeling of regret and pain. If this was the afterlife, it sucked. But I knew what the afterlife should have been like. This wasn't it.

Somehow, I was still alive.

I brought up an image of the most comforting thing I could think of, a picture of Rainbow Dash and Soarin that was my computer's desktop background for so long. It was nice to be able to remember the sweet things. But that didn't matter. If I was still alive, why did I feel dead? Why did I feel like I was…

…Asleep?

I snapped open my eyes and looked around. I was in a white, sterilized room. A soft bed was beneath me, a table next to me with a lamp sitting on top of it, turned off. It was rather dark, I assumed I was in a hospital, and had an uncomfortable feeling in my back. I wondered what was wrong with me. If I had survived a nuclear explosion, where the hell could they have taken me? Did I have a superhuman gene in my blood that kept me alive?

I examined my surroundings.

One window. Closed.

One white door. Closed, presumably locked. A curtain to my left., perhaps for another superhuman patient next to me. I sighed and dropped my head in my hands. Wait…

What.

The.

Hell.

I totally recoiled, slamming my head against the head of the bed. A ringing sound resounded in my ears for a few seconds, then I looked at my hands again. Or should I say…

Hooves.

Yeah. I had hooves. Issue? Yes. I was mutated into half horse. Or worse, donkey. Issue? No. Somehow the electric shock had sent me to Equestria and here I was, a pony. The second was more appealing. My hooves were of a dark blue color, sort of like the color of Princess Luna from the show. I had a panic attack. I began looking for more proof of where I was. I looked at the bedside table. I thought I recognized it from an episode where… Rainbow Dash? I yanked open the drawer in the table and pulled out the only thing inside. A book.

Rainbow Dash's favorite series. Darang Do.

Crap.

Well, yay for me, I was in Ponyville, in the local hospital. I could smell the sharp odors of medicinal herbs and pills, and tried to work my way out of the bed. I wasn't as comfortable in the body of a pony. But I would get used to it. I dropped onto all four hooves looked over my body (yeah, that sounds a little creepy. Deal with it). I was a dark blue color, my mane was two different shades of blue, as well as my (ugh) tail, and then I looked at my back. What I wanted more than ever when watching the show originally was to be not a Unicorn, not an Earth Pony like Pinkie Pie, but a Pegasus. I wanted to be like Rainbow Dash. My favorite pony.

I had wings on my back. They were slightly larger and stockier than what I remembered from Rainbow Dash's body shape, but that was because I was a stallion and she was a mare. I had a second thought. There, on my flank. A cutie mark? I thought I saw something, but I wanted a mirror or something to fully see it. Suddenly the door opened. A white pony came in with a hospital uniform on. She stopped and looked at me. "Oh," she began. "You're awake."

"Where am I?" I demanded.

"Well, dear, Ponyville of course!"

"What's my name?"

"You are Shadow Knight. Are you…okay?"

"How long have I been here?"

She hesitated. "A few weeks. Why? What's happened?"

"I can't remember anything. Who am I? Where am I? Where was I born? Who is my family? Is Rainbow Dash here? What about Applejack?" (I asked about Applejack because, of course, she's the second best pony).

"Rainbow Dash stopped by yesterday, but she didn't come to see you. There was a Wonderbolt in here with a wing injury. His name was Soarin I believe. Can I… get you anything?"

I looked at her. "A mirror. And…perhaps something to eat. Also…why am I in here?"

"A pair of Pegasi brought you in. Unconscious. You had no response to any treatment. I believe the two who brought you in were Derpy Hooves and…hmm…I can't remember the other. I'll be back with the things you wanted. Just get back into the bed and wait." The nurse left and I climbed awkwardly back into the bed. I picked up the book again from where it lay on the table and made a sad attempt at trying to open it. Hooves were painful to work with. I dropped the book on the floor and waited. I heard a voice outside. "…Unicorn pony. We need somepony who knows the memory spell…yes, I'll inform you of any change. Yes. Bye." I heard a click. The door opened again, and the nurse walked in, with another pony. The nurse held food on a tray, an assembly of vegetables and something hot that smelled like apples. The second nurse had a mirror swinging from his mouth, as well as a sheet of paper. The first nurse handed me the food. I took it awkwardly with my hooves, wishing beyond anything that I wouldn't drop it. I began consuming the vegetables, suddenly famished.

When I had finished, the second nurse held up the mirror. "What did you want this for?" he asked me.

"I want to see my mark. To make sure it is what I think it is." I responded, hoping they wouldn't think I was insane. But I probably was anyways. The nurse gave me the mirror and I pushed myself into a sitting position. I held the mirror at a strange angle. The cutie mark I saw was several twinkling points of light. Something told me stars. I figured it was a constellation, and maybe I could ask Twilight Sparkle, if she happened to be around, which one it was. I returned the mirror to the nurse and slid back under the blankets. I always hated hospital blankets. Itchy, not comfortable.

"Would you like anything else?" the first nurse inquired. I shook my head. She nodded and turned to the second pony. "The Doctor here would like to ask you a few questions. I'll just leave you to it then."

WOAH.

HOLD. YOUR. HORSES. (no pun intended)

DOCTOR WHOOVES. TALKING TO ME. (stuff's getting pretty real here, guys)

Just to make sure, I looked him over. (once again, creepy. DEAL WITH IT.). Brown body color, short mane and tail, and I could just glimpse his cutie mark of an hourglass. The Doctor sat down in one of the chairs in the room. "So," he began. "Shadow. You claim to not remember anything. Are you lying?"

Okay, the Doctor is freaking awesome and everything, but…really? "Of course not," I tell him. "and what I do remember makes no sense!"

He nodded and looked me in the eyes. "We have a specialist coming in soon who will assist you with your…problem. In the meantime, can I get you anything?"

I shook my head. "No. who's the specialist?"

"You'll see." The Doctor stood and trotted to the window. "Beautiful day isn't it?"

Yeah…a beautiful day for mass confusion.

A knock on the door interrupted the silence. In essence, nothing was interrupted. A familiar voice said, "Doctor? Are you there?"

The Doctor turned. "Yes, come in!"

In stepped the purple magic wonder. Oh. Crap.

Twilight Sparkle.

Mane six met, 1/6.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I stared at her. She suddenly seemed so much more appealing than when I had watched the show back…home? Hm..where's home here? Do I own a house in Ponyville or Cloudsdale? I was a Pegasus, so it would make sense…

Twilight looked at me with an odd look. Her horn sparkled, and her mane flowed around her neck. I noticed she didn't have wings. Having seen the finale for season 3, I'd assumed she'd be an alicorn, but I guess her coronation hadn't happened yet. Or maybe she had no idea about any of it. Or maybe the fandoms that had fallen after the episode had forced the actual world to change how the story went. Either way, it didn't matter. I assumed she was about to perform the memory spell on me. Joy…

The Doctor nodded to her and she focused her eyes on me. She trotted toward me, and pushed her horn against my forehead.

Weirdest.

Feeling.

Ever.

I felt a flash of light, something felt like an anvil had smashed my Pegasus skull in, and…

Nothing. No memories. No flood of resignation or redemption. Just…me.

"How do you feel?" Twilight asked me, her sweet voice reminding me of multiple episodes, but I couldn't tell her that.

"The same," I said. "What did you do?"

"A memory charm. Don't you remember anything? Any feelings, images, words?"

"No."

"Odd. I was sure I had perfected the spell. Let me try again…"

Once again, I felt a flash of light, something felt like an anvil had smashed my Pegasus skull in, and…

Again, nothing. I blinked at her. She looked at the Doctor. He gave me a hard look. "How do you feel?" he asked me.

"Fine. Can I get out of here?"

"If you don't have a home, where will you go? You can't remember anything, so how will you know your way around?"

"I think I'll be okay." I started getting out of the bed.

"If you can't find your home or a place to stay, find me and you can stay with me and Spike." Twilight's eyes sparkled.

I had to play innocent. Of course, I knew who Spike was. I knew where Twilight lived. I knew where all of the Mane Six ponies lived. Man, aren't I creepy? "Who's Spike?" I asked.

"Oh, he's my baby dragon, and my number one assistant." (like we haven't heard THAT before….) "I live in the library in the center of town. Good luck."

She left the room. I threw off the blankets and began following. The Doctor trotted behind me, his hoof beat resounding in my ears. It felt odd, walking around on all fours. But I could deal with it. I wanted to meet Rainbow Dash. Twilight led me down some steps and past a desk where a few other ponies sat, staring through papers. One of them nodded to Twilight as she passed.

Once we were outside, and I could feel the legit sun and the sky on my face, I pushed my wings open. It felt awesome. But that wasn't the point. I had to learn how to fly. FAST. I flapped my wings, and lifted myself off the ground a few feet, then dropped down. The road was almost exactly as I imagined it, dirt. Grass an flowers bordering it. Several buildings rose up a hundred feet away. My soul soared when I saw the roof of the famed Sugarcube Corner. I needed sugar and a smile or twelve from Pinkie. Twilight suddenly flashed her horn and disappeared. Man, I wanted to teleport…

The Doctor wished me luck and left, heading around the corner of the hospital. I sneaked a glance around, and saw the T.A.R.D.I.S. (AWW MAH GOSHHHH). I turned back and headed toward town. I saw several ponies around the area, even Lyra and Cloudchaser. I saw the top of the tree that Twilight's library was based in, and Rarity's fashion shop (ugh….fashion…).

As I neared Sugarcube Corner, I heard a horrific crash inside the building, and several destructive sounding noises. Then the door slammed open, and two ponies walked out. One, a brown unicorn stallion, covered in pink icing, and another, a gray mare, with a look of pure shock on her face. The unicorn turned back and said, "See? I told you I'd win! Next time, Pinkie… Next time, I eat ALL YOUR CUPCAKES."

A soft voice sounded, "Please don't." I took a second look at the ponies, and recognized Octavia, the first chair Cellist for the Canterlot Royal Symphony. The other pony, whom I can't recall a name, simply walked away, nodding to Octavia. Suddenly it hit me. All those fan videos... EPIC WUB TIME! ARE THE FAN VIDEOS INTERPRETING WHAT HAPPENS HERE? ("Vinyl knows all of the really great musicians here in Ponyville, and she introduced me to a Violinist whom I…had…admired from afar, but hadn't had the chance to meet professionally yet. We met at Sugarcube Corner for a spot of tea…but things…quickly…got out of hoof."-Octavia)

Totally creeped out, I moved into the bakery and found Pinkie Pie sitting in a mess of fallen shelves, smashed cupcakes, cakes, and baked goods all over everywhere. Pinkie just sat there, looking freaked and scared beyond recognition. I trotted to her and offered her a hand up (er-herm, HOOF). She stood and looked around at the mess. "Want help cleaning up?" I asked. She nodded and started sweeping up the ruined cakes. I lifted chairs back up and righted tables, which for some reason the unicorn had decided to throw around the room. Pinkie's pet alligator Gummy waddled around licking up icing. Her two baby-sitting charges Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake sat on the floor giggling.

It took a while, but when we finished, Pinkie Pie leaned against the counter and swiped her forehead with a towel. "What's your name?" she asked me.

My first instinct was, 'Curtis', my name from before the sudden world and body change. I struggled to remember what the nurse had told me. "Uh… I'm Shadow Knight."

"Well, Shadow, thanks for helping. I just wanted a cupcake eating contest but he totally ruined it! It was supposed to be FUN!" I nodded, knowing all the details but not being able to tell her that. I just nodded all cool-like, and started heading out. "WAIT!" she yelled as I was walking out the door. "Want a cupcake?"

I turned back around. "Why not?" I said. My friends always told me I was most like Pinkie Pie, but I wasn't totally crazy like her. (Excuse me, not crazy, RANDOM).

(Mane Six met 2/6)

(Side note: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Also, note: If you haven't seen Epic Wub Time: Musicians of Ponyville, WATCH IT)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I finished up the cupcake Pinkie gave me and started heading down the street. As I passed underneath a window, I heard a voice. I stopped to listen. Two voices, upstairs in a house next to me. "Lyyyyyyyrrrraaaa! What did you do?"

*Quieter voice*

'What's wrong with you, Lyra?" (definitely Bon-Bon)

*other voice, louder* "Well, I kill people, and I eat hands, that's two things!"

"LYYYYRAAAAA!"

I smiled and kept walking. Ponies With Hats. Popular fan video. I liked this version of Equestria, where the only real issues are angry ponies and freaked room-mates. I saw Rarity's house again, with Spike doing something outside. He was digging in the dirt. Suddenly he stood and held out a brilliantly bright green but horrendously small gem "AHA!" he hollered. "My precious…" he ran into Rarity's house. I thought, well, if Rarity is half the Brony community's favorite pony, I might as well meet her. I had to meet all of the Mane 6 at some point. I walked up the path that led to her home, and was immediately stopped when her door and Sweetie Bell came prancing out. She looked unbelievably happy. She saw me, and hollered, "RARITY! You have someone out here!" then she kept bouncing along in a manner not far from the way Pinkie Pie jumps around.

Rarity came outside, saw me, and almost fainted. "Oh, darling, do come inside, you simply MUST do something with your mane and tail! Look at them, they are too pretty to leave alone (had I still been human, I would have blushed at this) and I think I have JUST the thing in mind!" she walked up and started shoving me toward the door. I nudged her off and walked through by myself. Sheesh.

Insides I was greeted by multiple colors and Spike drooling over his gem. I felt like kicking him. But I couldn't do that. Twilight would hate me forever, which would ultimately be BAD. So I ignored him and moved on with my suddenly interesting life. Rarity yanked me over to a table covered in various fabrics. "Don't think of needing to pay for any of this, I have never seen you before, you must be new in town! Anyways why don't we just have a look at you, where to start, where to start...AH! I think THAT green will add a nice touch, and why don't we just look at your mane and then we might be able to do some of this and then maybe...Spike could you come and hold this down, dear? Ah, thank you, darling. {(Spike wandered around like an idiot. Some day he'll learn that REAL men (Cough* PONIES) just walk up to the girl (*Cough MARE) they like and talk business instead of mooning around like a drunk.)} Now, dear, could you please not move for a moment I need to measure your neck..." I let her fondle around with a bunch of stuff, feeling weird when she touched me with her hooves, and let her talk NONSTOP for like half an hour.

The end result, as I looked in a mirror, was a thin green piece of fabric wrapped around my neck and tied in a knot over my chest. Another, larger piece of dark blue, a slightly light shade than my body, was crossed under that like a short cape. She had straightened my mane, and applied something to it that made it have a dark shimmer, not like a sparkly deal like some over-obsessive girl would like, but sort of a deep, shine. I sort of liked it. She herded me out of the boutique with many thanks and then she denied my request to make an attempt at paying her back. (Really?) So I just left and started scouring the skies for Rainbow Dash.

Mane Six Met: 3/6

[The picture of my OC will be posted soon. I think I'll set it to that now actually!]

(PLEASE RXR)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

As I walked, I contemplated what I wanted to do here. I had met Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and (I had recently read 'Cupcakes'. Makes me shudder thinking about it) Pinkie Pie. I still had Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. I really wanted to meet Rainbow Dash, but had no idea where I would find her. So I thought, "Applejack is usually in the same place… guess I'll try Sweet Apple Acres." So I headed down that way, nodding greetings at the ponies I met. I saw Derpy Hooves, Soarin', Vinyl Scratch, who I also needed to meet, Bon Bon, Octavia, and one pony that I'd never seen before, in any fan videos or episodes. She was a bright bronze sort of color, with a flare of flame on her flank. It wasn't Spitfire, but it looked a little like her, also, she was a unicorn. Makes a large difference, Pegasi and unicorns.

Finally, I saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, chasing after Scootaloo, racing up the road toward the barn. I saw Big Macintosh out front, pulling a cart, and Granny Smith sitting in a chair. Applejack wasn't there. Suddenly, I hear a "YEEEAAA-HHAAAWWW!" from the trees. Answered my question. Only ONE pony makes that noise. I turned off and headed for the trees. Apple Bloom scampered away from the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and slid to a stop in front of me. "Where ya from, mister? And where ya headed?"

"I'm here to meet your sister."

"Well ain't that AWKWARD! Follow me, all nice like, kay? I'll take ya t' her."

"Thanks Apple Bloom."

"How you know mah name?"

…crap…..

"Uh….wild guess?" (DAMN. NOBODY EVER FALLS FOR THAT, EVEN THOUGH IT'S IN ALL THE MOVIES.)

"Suuuuuure…maybe yer brainwashed." She led me through the trees, leaving me wondering why Miss Cheerilee was teaching her students about the state of the brain….

We walked (rather, trotted) through the trees, until we could hear the sound of Applejack's yelling and the sound of hooves smashing into trees. "Guess ya'll can find her on yer own now," said Apple Bloom. She started walking away, then stopped and looked at me. "Try any funny stuff with mah sister, and you'll hear about it, sure will. I'll applebuck you in the places Stallions don't like it." (Once again, who the HELL is teaching her these things?) She laughed and ran back through the forests of apple trees.

I followed the sounds of Applejack's work until I found her, in a clump of trees. She was picking up baskets of apples, to carry back home. "Hey there, Sugarcube," she says. "Was that ya'll I heard talkin' ta' mah sister back there?"

I nodded. "I'm Shadow Knight. I was hoping to meet you."

"Meet me? Well whatever the heck fer? Lotsa ponies knows me!"

I had to lie. "Well, you're sorta….famous….where I come from." It's true. Applejack was one of the common favorites. Mostly for ONE LINE she said in season 3.

"Aw, yeah?" and whereabouts do ya come from?"

"Well…..rather far away. Over Eternity's Crossing." (for those of you who don't know, it's an ocean. Far east of Equestria. Common in several fan videos including maps.)

"Well then, you've heard of Ponyville, and Celestia and all that jabber?"

(Pft, hell I've more than HEARD of it.) "Mostly, yeah." I said. My American accent was gonna blow my cover. I hate it…..I wanna be British….

"Well then, Sugarcube, you an' Ah has lots to talk 'bout!"

We picked up the baskets of apples, and started heading back. I was surprised at how heavy the baskets were. But she could carry two easily, so I suppose I could manage two as well.

We made light conversation all the way back to the barn, mostly talking about past events, which strangely, (WONDER HOW) I seemed to know all about. Eg. Flim Flam brothers, the family reunion, Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom, the CMC, the incident with Babs Seed (I had to stop myself from humming 'Babs Seed'. That would have SUCKED.), Discord, the Crystal Empire, Twilight's sanity problems, The Elements of Harmony, among other random things.

After what seemed quite a while, we got back to the barn. Applejack said, "Ya'll want anything?"

"Uh…do you have any cider?"

"Well, yeah! Got a bit left from last time's harvest! Heard about that too, I wonder!"

I was desperate to try this stuff.

Applejack handed me a mug filled to the brim with cider. It was warm and bubbly. I took a sip, then dove into the rest of it. Recognition flooded me as I realized why Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash-(NEVER LET ME PUT THOSE TWO NAMES INTO THE SAME SENTENCE. REMINDS ME OF…yeah)…

Anyways, it was sweet, a little spicy, quite savory, and pretty much all around delicious. Only thing better I've tasted…huh….can't think of anything. Anyways! I said thanks to Applejack, and went on my way. Big Mac nodded to me on the way down the road, and Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo started giggling as I passed them. Who knows what goes on in their little brains….

Mane Six met: 4/6

(RXR guys! Thanks for reading!)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

As I walked farther away from the Sweet Apple Acres, I realized there were so many ponies I wanted to meet. I had to meet Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, still, but also, Lyra, the Doctor, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Derpy Hooves, Princess Luna (Who is quite obviously, the BEST Princess), Zecora, Soarin', Spitfire, Scootaloo (BEST CMC, No contest), Sweetie Belle, maybe Princess Celestia at some point, maybe I could get Twilight to introduce me. I liked how I looked, my dark blue mane, and tail, with my midnight blue body. And I must admit that although I think that most of Rarity's dresses are hideous (Except one from the episode Green isn't Your Color), the things she had given me were quite nice.

The warm colors of the landscape around me flooded my eyes suddenly. I had rarely seen such beauty in California, the plain America so boring, yet Equestria, thanks to a certain animator, was created in a hard world of colorless drab. I loved the color, the life, the joy, the rare moments of pain among the characters. A few fan fictions I have read ruined the beauty sometimes, but it was always restored in my heart. I'm getting off track.

So I was walking through Ponyville, admiring the sights to see and the things to do, suddenly wanting another….wait….forget I said that. I don't want that. Brings back bad memories. Anyways! I was walking, and—

*BAM*

I fell to the ground, tangled in my four legs and someone else's. A quiet noise made me stop struggling to get up. "Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there. Are you all right? Can I help you up? oh, oh, oh I'm so sorry!"

One.

Word.

Fluttershy.

I stood up. She sat there, looking at me.

…

…

…awkward silences are really hard to get around.

"Um…hi!" I started.

"Oh, um…hello…" her voice got all squeaky and quiet like it usually does. "I'm… Fluttershhh…."

I looked at her. I knew her name. duh. "What was that?"

I think a memory of Iron Will suddenly came to mind. She stood up and looked me in the eye. "I'm Fluttershy. Who are you?"

"I'm Shadow Knight."

…

…

…

…

Seriously….awkward silences….annoy me….

"Say…" I started. "Fancy a spot of tea?" My green scarf suddenly felt really hot. Awkward. Fluttershy looked me in the eyes.

"Sure!" She said excitedly. I started walking toward Sugarcube Corner, with her following me.

When we entered the door, Pinkie Pie greeted us loudly. "HI FLUTTERSHY! WHAT CAN I GET YOU? OMG HI SHADOW IT'S ONLY BEEN LIKE AN HOUR WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING CAN I HEAR ABOUT IT DO YOU WANT ANOTHER CUPCAKE?" I was forced to sit down and she brought a flourish of cupcakes and muffins to our table. I declined the cupcakes, took a muffin, and asked for some sweet tea. Fluttershy said the same, and in a few minutes it was at our table. My spirits soared when the bell jingled and Derpy and the Doctor walked in. I had to stop myself from knocking him over in excitement. Instead I waved to him. Derpy waved back, clearly not caring who she was waving at, but Doctor Whooves looked at me funny. Huh. I really wanted to meet him in a more friendly manner than we had at the hospital.

After Fluttershy and I finished our tea, Fluttershy gave me leave and she ran off toward her house. At least, I assume it was her house she was heading to.

I began frantically searching the skies for Rainbow Dash. Then I had a thought. I have WINGS don't I? Why don't I bloody USE them? I spread out my wings, feeling them broaden out over the grass. I flapped them a few times, hoping beyond hope that nobody was watching in case I did an epic fail. After a few attempts I managed to stay in the air. I zipped around the town, never going higher than the rooftops, looking for Rainbow Dash. I didn't see her at all. I dropped back to the ground. How sad.

Mane Six met: 5/6


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver, lasered it around in Shadow's direction, and flicked it up to his face. "That pony," he murmured to himself, "isn't normal.

He walked to the TARDIS and entered the blue box. He pushed a few buttons and an image of Shadow Knight filled the screen, along with a list of Gallafrain characters. "Dear Celestia…" he said to himself. "Where did he come from?"

"Doctor?" Derpy called from outside.

"A…just a moment, Derpy!" the Doctor cleared all the data and returned his screwdriver to his pocket.

He had to find out more. It wasn't time for play.

Back to Time-Lord business.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I dropped back to the ground, disappointed. I couldn't find Rainbow Dash. How annoying. In what episode in all three seasons was Rainbow Dash inexplicably missing? Anyways, the sky was growing dark. I didn't know if I had a home, but until I did, I would be staying with Twilight Sparkle. Great. I have to deal with her OCD and Spike. It's not like she isn't cool, but she just might have a few mental issues that were never addressed.

I walked through the streets of Ponyville, overly excited. All the stuff my parents wanted me to do, all the success they had planned for me, all the schools they wanted me to attend, and here I was, in EQUESTRIA! Screw college, screw a job, screw American politics! I was now alive in Equestria, the coolest place anyone could possibly want. Right?

Anyways I found the main road and headed towards Twilight's library. As I reached the door, I heard a voice inside that was very masculine and most DEFENITELY not Twilight. As I listened, I caught a hint of British accent, and who else in Equestria had a British accent but Doctor Whooves? I silently slid up to the door and pushed my ear against it.

"Does he know?" Twilight.

"No, I don't think so." Doctor.

"How does he not know?"

"I have no idea. But he's like I was; he ended up here somehow, but he used to be…well…"

"What is he capable of?"

"Well I'm a Time Lord, but I don't do anything drastic, do I? At least, not very often… he should just be fine. Act like he's just another pony from another town or city and make him welcome. We can get a few tests done and make sure that we aren't wrong. I must go now."

Time to act. I jumped back several yards, using my wings for propulsion, and walked back up to the door as Doctor Whooves came back out. He looked at me, then brushed beside me without a second glance. How disappointing.

I entered the tree library (funny pair of words) and glanced around, recognizing nearly everything. The rows and rows of books, Spike asleep, everything exactly in order and not a speck of dust out of place. As if dust existed with Twilight's OCD. Twilight jumped up to greet me. "Hi, it's Shadow, right? Shadow Knight?"

"Yes," I said, quietly.

"Okay then, now that that's settled, I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"I know your name," I said, like an idiot. She didn't tell me her name.

"Really? Oh, well, I suppose some people have heard of me outside of Ponyville. After all, I have met a lot of ponies. Anyways, let's find you a place to sleep, shall we?" Twilight's horn flashed, and a small bed appeared. She used magic to push it into a corner of the room, underneath a book shelf, and then blankets appeared on it, folding down over the bed, then a pair of pillows.

"Thanks," I told her.

"Don't mention it! After all, you're new here, and I assume you don't have anywhere to stay. I don't suppose you'd want to stay with Rarity, she'd bore you to death with fashion talk, Pinkie Pie would keep you up all night trying to party, Rainbow Dash I don't suppose you would have a problem with, but I haven't seen her all day. Fluttershy would take you in, but her animals might kill you, if I recall what happened with Apple Bloom and her friends…"(Oh yeah, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were assaulted by a Cockatrice. Ain't that nice.)"And Applejack might kill you from work on Sweet Apple Acres. This is probably the best place for you to stay. The only thing I might make you do is help me with something. Feel free to read whatever you want, if you feel like it. Just don't ruin any books, that's my job. Are you comfortable?"

While she was talking non-stop I had hopped onto the bed and tested the comfort level. I'm weird that way. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Great, then I'll just head up to my room. Feel free to wake me up if you need anything."

"Could I have something to drink?"

I think Twilight cursed to herself, then said, "Yeah, just a moment." Her magic sparked across the room, and a crystal clear glass cup appeared, then filled itself with water. It dropped between my hooves. I almost dropped it. Hooves were weird. I had to get used to them. I did my best to drink the water without spilling any of it, but I was sure that if I did it would be a cinch to clean it up, with Spike around, or Twilight's magic.

The evening was uneventful. Twilight hopped to bed, Spike snored, and I tossed in my bed restlessly. I suppose after spending a few days in a hospital, I wouldn't be tired, because mostly, in a hospital, you sleep. There isn't much else to do.

Eventually I managed to drop off to sleep.

No dreams.

Yay. (-Fluttershy)

The next morning I awoke to find an empty house. Rather, empty library. But then, a library isn't really empty, considering the fact that a hundred thousand books sat there, gathering dust until Twilight decided to read them. I hauled my tired body out of the bed. I picked up the blue cape and the green scarf that Rarity had given me, which I had hung the night before on a post at the end of the bed.

I looked around, the room. Typical Spike still lay in his bed, snoring loudly. A small table sat in the middle of the room, a plate of little cakes of some sort sat covered in syrup on it. A note had slipped off the table, which now lay on the floor. I got to my hooves (feels weird saying that), and walked to the table, leaning down to read the note.

_Dear Shadow Knight,  
I have prepared breakfast for you. Please enjoy it. Today I will be working in the Everfree forest with Zecora. I am unsure if you know who she is, but you seem to know quite a bit about us already, even though you have only been here a day or so. She is teaching me a certain kind of magic. Enough about that, I have left a small amount of bits for you to spend, should you require funds. However, please have spike send me a message should you need anything. I don't know when I will return, so if you have an emergency, please contact The Doctor. He is the Stallion with the big blue box. But I'm sure you've met him._

_Stay Safe,_

_Twilight Sparkle._

I laid the note down on the table, then ate the food. It was quite good. Spike still sat snoring. As I moved the plate aside, it revealed a small pouch of red silk, that jingled when I moved it. I picked it up and tied it to my scarf, then silently left the library.

Outside, the morning sun shone quite brightly, and a few Pegasi ponies were keeping the clouds away from the sun. I opened my wings, feeling the warmth along my back. I liked the sun. I jumped into the air and flapped my wings. The ground dropped away. I managed to get a few dozen feet up, then shot forward, curving around the buildings. Flying was great.

I managed to carry myself toward Fluttershy's cottage. Sure, why not drop in and say hi? I thudded to the ground and walked to her door. I knocked a few times, heard a faint "Come in," and opened the door.

I was greeted with a rather unpleasant sight. That jerk Angel was refusing Fluttershy's food again. I realized I had a question for Fluttershy. I waited for her to give Angel the stare before she greeted me and sat me down and brought me tea. How hospitable. "How can I help you?" she asked me quietly. "Wait…I remember you! I bumped into you yesterday! Are you okay? Where are you staying? What…" she ranted with questions until I told her that Twilight had me staying with her and that I was fine. She stopped, then gathered her composure. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I was looking for a certain pony. Her name is Rainbow Dash. (gotta play the innocent card again). I was hoping you might know her." I gave her a small smile.

"Rainbow Dash? Well, I certainly know her, she's a good friend of mine (oooohhhhh, you don't SAY!), but I haven't seen her in a while. Come to think of it, I don't think any of us have seen her in a couple of days."

"Us?"

"Oh, you know, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, the rest of Ponyville, but I've been here trying to help Angel, she just got over a cold, and now she won't eat." I was about to explain to her that she should take the little brat and kick her off Cloudsdale, but really that wouldn't be a fine idea.

"Well, thanks for helping me anyways! And thanks for the tea!" I left the house, and was walking down the path before I remembered something I had wanted to say for SO long. I turned back to her, and said, "Allons-y!" I laughed at myself and kept walking.

A few hours later I was still clueless as to where Rainbow Dash was. Apparently nobody had seen her, in at least two days. But the weather was normal, and that's all most ponies cared about, whether or not the Pegasi did their job.

Perhaps I should look somewhere else.

({Thanks for reading, guys! Having a blast writing this, I have big plans for it! Tell me what you think!})


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I set to walking around Ponyville, asking as many questions as I could without raising suspicion or setting the opinion or rumor that I was attempting to stalk Rainbow Dash. Sure, she is THAT awesome, but if I start acting like a freaking creeper (*boom*) then I might get my ass kicked outta Ponyville. How nice would that be.

Anyways I had walked my way to the edge of town. I found myself staring into the Everfree forest. Honestly, I understand the feeling that the ponies got when they first stepped into it in the first few episodes. A cold, seeping feeling ran through my hooves and up my forelegs, and then along my spine and seemed to rest at my stomach. A feeling of despair and fear. But I knew that many of the ponies were frightened by it, so if I could prove that a few trees and a cold wind didn't scare me, that might be plus a few points in my Ponyville book.

I stepped inside the forest. Instantly everything became darker. I didn't let that faze me. I walked along the dirt path, carefully avoiding the plant that had caused so much trouble, the blue Poison Joke (honestly, I think they could have named that better, however they didn't expect 5 year old girls to care or 16 year old guys to be watching the show. ANYWAYS). I continued along the path for what felt like hours, but really it was only a few minutes. There was so much to look at and see and (Celestia forbid) to touch and be curious about, but I couldn't properly explore because I had no idea whether or not anything was dangerous. (oh yeah, side note: I noticed in the season 1 during the episode Stare Master that Fluttershy's house was literally RIGHT next to the forest, yet in every other episode it's like, across Ponyville. WHAT… {oh yeah, another side note: What's Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara's special talent? Seriously?})

I found Zecora's house easily enough. However I kind of stood there for like five minutes before I decided to knock. I sat there thinking _what if she decided to poison me, what if she sees me as a threat, what if I intrude on Twilight's discussion with her, what if Twilight turns me inside out and explodes me, what if she agrees with Zecora and wants to poison me, what if what if what if what if… _so yeah I decided it couldn't be so bad, so I knocked on the door.

(_before I get into this scene, I'm gonna have a hell of a lot of trouble doing Zecora's rhyming deal, so gimme some slack. This is an editor's note, this is from the author, not Shadow Knight. Don't freak out about how bad the rhymes are.)_

A cheery voice, Twilight's, said, "Come in!"

I entered. I carefully pushed open the door and stepped through. I was greeted with a charming sight, Twilight and Zecora enjoying some sort of bleak, gray liquid in small cups. Zecora said, "Please, take a seat, before you faint from all the heat." I sighed and consented to filling a stool next to Twilight. Zecora waved a hoof, and a small tea cup appeared before me, identical to Twilight's, and it filled with the gray liquid. Zecora kept speaking. "One of foreign shadows walks among us, a knight of peace and prosperity, but one wrong turn and prosperity will turn to terror and hostility." I noticed it didn't exactly rhyme, but screw that, she still had a rhythmic tone to her voice, and she spoke in poetic form. Good enough for me.

"I don't quite understand," Twilight Sparkle noted, ignoring me. "One of foreign shadows…foreign…well, _you're _foreign, Zecora, but that's not it…Perhaps Trixie is coming back, but she isn't exactly someone peaceful…well, she might be, now, it's been a while since our duel." During all this, she kept talking, and I sort of sat there, staring at her. Apparently she takes things too seriously and thinks too hard. I figured it out before she did. "Foreign…hm…a _knight_…maybe that's something…foreign shadows…shadows…knight…a knight of shadows… Shadow Knight!" She stood abruptly and thrust a purple hoof in my face. "She's talking about YOU!"

I slipped backward off of my stool and fell to the floor as her purple hoof occupied my eyes, and stared at her. "Took you long enough." And I started laughing.

Sadly, this didn't really sit well with Twilight, and she glared at Zecora.

"What do you mean, a knight of peace and prosperity? What does Shadow have to do with anything?"

Zecora gazed calmly at her. She relayed these verses:

"When all is said and done

If the Shadow has not become

The Knight worthy of _digmi _seven

All shall be lost, no more heaven

Hell will rise

And darkness consume

If peace and prosperity

Do not bloom."

"What does that mean?" I asked her.

"You must interpret, young one, however you see you must become."

I just stopped talking. I hated riddles. I might as well enjoy my gray tea, whatever the heck it was, while Twilight Sparkle, the smarty here, rather, the _egghead _according to Rainbow Dash, figured all the crap out.

I picked up my cup, while Twilight became more and more frustrated at Zecora, who only continued speaking in riddles. The gray stuff in the cup was actually deceptive, looking absolutely revolting, but tasting like something from oranges and melons and lemons all mixed together. Whatever made it gray obviously was a trick, so that Zecora wouldn't have to share any of it. Wow. How interesting.

Perhaps an hour later and several awkward silences, and a few dozen cups of tea, Twilight pulled me to my hooves and we left the house. I thanked Zecora for the tea and the conversation, and we began the trek toward Ponyville. Twilight didn't say much. She was agitated, and well, when women, or, in this case, mares, get agitated, either get the hell away or don't say a word. I voted for the second option. I saw Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle playing outside the edge of town. The early afternoon sunshine splayed over the pretty town. I almost went over to say hello to the fillies, but they would either: a) kill me b) think I'm a rapist and run c) write me off as not worth a bit. None are appealing. I suppose I would grow on them. Come to think of it, I wanted to talk to Applejack again. She actually made interesting conversation.

Before I could come to any decisions, however, Twilight Sparkle pulled me around to the side of a building and pushed me against a fence. "You are not to breathe a word to anyone about the last two hours, you understand? If that gets out, hell is gonna break loose here. We can't have that. If I find out you've been blabbing, I'll send you to Granny Smith and have her feed you to the Timberwolves."

_The unicorn's horn flashed. A wave of wind washed over her body, and she turned invisible to the rest of the world. She teleported to the roof, and leaned over the side. As she silently and emotionlessly listened to the words spoken by one Twilight Sparkle, she sent the stockpile of new information to her mind, then watched as the unicorn and caped, blue Pegasus walked away from her location, and she remained where she was for several minutes past them leaving her sight, as to avoid detection._

I walked with Twilight back to her library, her threats still lingering in the back of my brain. The Timberwolves. Joy. Now I'm getting sacrificed in order to retain information. How nice.

Twilight left the library and told me to do whatever I wanted, but to be back before nightfall. Doable.

I wandered around the library, looking at the various history books. I found a fiction section, where the Daring Do books sat, all eight of them. I was desperate to read them. Perhaps I would be able to later. I felt the small pouch of money I still had, and decided I felt like spending it. I left the library.

Wandering across Ponyville is actually more fun than it sounds. You'd be surprised. Even if you have absolutely nothing to do, and no money to spend, and nowhere to go in particular, there is quite a bit to see and look at. And tons of ponies to meet. All over the place. Like this, for instance.

I walked around Sugarcube Corner and ran head on into a white pony. Now, there aren't very many white ponies mentioned or seen in the show. So the first pony that popped into my head with a white body was the name that came to mind.

"Dude, you okay? I didn't see you there. I was just heading back to my house, you know, spinnin' some records! Oh…yeah…you okay?"

I stared Vinyl Scratch down, right through those dark shades. I could just see her red eyes behind them. I spat out something totally intelligent, like "Uh…"

"You wanna come back to my place? We could hang for a bit, you know, have some drinks, chillax. I'm Vinyl Scratch, but you can call me either or both. What's your name?"

I barely got out, "I'm Shadow Knight, but…Shadow is fine…" then I sort of lost my intelligence for a minute. Vinyl led me around a few corners until we reached a small house, painted black and blue. The door was an electric green color. Inside, a HUGE difference, with a small European sofa in one corner, a blazing fireplace in another, and a pair of leather chairs, with a table between them.

A few hours later, after an extensive tour of Vinyl's home and a hearing of some of her music, and a classical performance from Octavia, which I almost fainted listening to, it was so beautiful. After some coffee with the music artists, and light conversation next to the fire, I saw something out the window that caught my eye. Something was weird about it, and I noticed it, they didn't, so I bid my leave, told the artists that I would see them later and maybe we could have more hang time, but I had a place to be. Sure, a lie by omission, but, really, I didn't know where I was going or what I had seen.

So I left.

Yeah, asshole me. Ditching Vinyl for s superstitious something that I had caught with the corner of my eye, which might have just been Berry Punch, drunk as hell, wandering around.

I jumped into the air, unfurled my wings and flapped upward, landing on one of the houses near Vinyl's. the thing I had seen had been airborne, so, Rainbow Dash, of course, is first assumption.

Well, in a way, I'm wrong.

Something careened into me, knocking me off the roof and straight to the ground. I felt something crack in one of my wings, and cursed to myself, and then looked at the pony standing above me. It wasn't the pony I was hoping for. Well, it was, but she wasn't.

Rainbow Dash was staring at me. But she was different. Her blue body was a slightly darker color, as were the colors in her mane, and, thought I couldn't see it, tail. Her eyes, though. Pitch, black, pools of nothingness stared into me. I started panicking. This wasn't the Rainbow Das I knew. She wasn't the loyal badass Pegasus pony who was the epic character of the show. She seemed like a…the right word…a…hologram? No, more like a projection of the real Rainbow Dash. So, aroused he question. Where was the _real _Rainbow Dash? Who the hell was sitting above me?

Almost as suddenly as the pony had rammed into me and snapped one of my wings, she was gone, zipping away towards the mountains, gleaming orange in the oncoming sunset. Freaked and injured, I ran back to Twilight's library.

{[First off, if you got the reference with the creeper at the beginning, you play the right games. Second, I actually update my profile, so please check it out if you are looking for news. I keep posting how close I am to finishing chapters and such, and I get PMs about how I need to post and when they will be up. READ MY PROFILE. Also, since you probably haven't read my profile yet, I asked for OC (Original Character) submissions for me to use in my story. I have three OC's to use so far, and two came from the same user. Also, I am not getting any bad feedback on this, so I assume you guys like it very much, but if something catches your eye, and you don't like it, or it's wrong, tell me, as long as it ISN'T YOUR BLOODY OPINION. I don't CARE about your OPINION. Thanks, now that we've cleared that up…that's it for update news. I won't be putting this at the end of chapters anymore, so read my profile if you are desperate for information. This might be the last post for a couple weeks, because the next chapter is going to be long and complicated. Sorry for the wait, and if you want to talk to me, shoot me a PM. I check for messages relatively every day, so if you wanna chat, feel free. See you guys later.]}


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

The Thunder Oath

Calamity.

Flash Fire.

Sicarius.

Several of my names. One of many. However, the one I am known for. The one the emanates power and radiates fear, my name, the one long forgotten in Equestrian history. The one name that was erased from the past. The one nobody remembers.

Incendium.

Incendium Heart. Only one stallion remembered my name, and he sacrificed his life for me. So, nobody knows me. Nobody knows of my labyrinth. Nobody believed my story. Nobody. I have denied the pleasures of friendship. Of a happy life. A special friend of the opposite sex. Marriage. I threw all of it away.

Incendium Heart.

My birth? I can't stand to think of it. My death?

I am dead. But I'm not. They think I'm dead. I'm not. I was supposed to have been guillotined in front of the royal guard. But here I am, having fooled Celestia's bastard dogs who guard her palace. Princess Luna actually understood me. She felt how I did. She knew betrayal and pain. But she couldn't help me. Nothing she said would sway Celestia. She is the only pony I will spare when I tirade through the streets of Canterlot, killing anything I see. But they won't see it coming. Oh, no they won't. They won't see anything. Not a word of whispering.

No secrets. No plans. Only death. Only suffering for the rich fools who prance about Canterlot with not a worry in their minds. There is a reason I have the Cutie Mark I do. The pentagram on my flank defines who I am. Defines what I do and what I am capable of. Defines exactly why I teleported myself as far as I could after my only friend sacrificed his body to save me. Why I walked for three days away from Equestria, back to the lands of snow and ice, past the Crystal Empire, past the land of the Griffin Empire. And even then I didn't stop. I walked until my hooves were ready to bleed themselves white, until my parched and thirsty tongue was willing to drink in dirty snow, until my head was nearing the point of bursting from exhaustion. Only then did I stop.

Along the way, I had time. Time. Time to think. Time to plan. Time to create. Time to imagine destruction. Time. All the time I wanted. Now, you may be thinking that, perhaps it was a waste of time. But I must say I realized and invented things in the caches of thought that no pony has ever begun to imagine.

My inventions begun.

After I recovered, from the journey, when an outlaw took me in, a week's worth of walking, and one hell of a spot of sunstroke and madness, one stallion took pity on me. Only one. Nobody else. Because he understood. He knew. He felt the same. He worked with me, healed me, put up with my fits of madness. But it was never a bond of friendship. He knew that. He knew that friendship wasn't an option. He knew that the only word that defined our relationship was an alliance. A pact made by a want for revenge.

But this wasn't the normal revenge. Oh no. I was going to ruin everything that the Princess had planned. Not only her life, but her family, her friends, except Luna. Luna. The hope. The lasting impression. I was going to kill. Murder. Destroy. Consume life. Use it. But I wasn't doing this to take over. I didn't want the crown, the treasure, the territory, the slaves and subjects. Once I was done, I was going to disappear. Vanish. No trace, leaving only the terror behind. I didn't care who. But I knew. I have a source. I know about everything. I am closer to everything, yet farther than anything.

I had mastered a certain magical art. Only The Great and Powerful Trixie and the mage StarSwirl the Bearded had managed the spell. But Trixie had to use the Alicorn Amulet, and StarSwirl had to read everything out of books. But me, I memorized the thirty four pages that encrypted the spell, the handwritten copy of the first mage. I had it. I burned the book after I finished memorizing each word, and I made one copy on fresh paper, in encrypted code and text, with binary code, and reversal diagrams all in one. Hidden text. Everything. Riddles. Only I knew how it worked. Only I remembered. Trixie, she was weak. A fool. And StarSwirl, as smart as the stallion was, he didn't have the proper mind. Of course he didn't.

So I worked. I worked long and hard. I worked until my brain suffered a malfunction and I passed out. My friend woke me. It had been three days. But the work was complete.

Now?

Now.

I am preparing. I am working still. I have crafted tools. I have made weapons. I have become my own genius. I am better.

Incendium Heart.

My name. it will be remembered forever. I will be the one to begin the apocalypse, the fallout. The end. But nobody will know. Nobody will imagine what I can do. Nobody. A Sonic Rainboom is nothing to me in terms of power. Power isn't even the Elements of Harmony. Not that, not what the famed Discord can do. All the fools in Equestria. Fools. The lot of them.

Incendium Heart.

My oath. My thunderous promise. I will not fail. I will succeed. And then. Then. What will happen? I will kill. I will continue to kill. Nobody will ever know. I can create. I can counteract. I can manipulate time and space. I can ruin and destroy.

Incendium Heart.

I will live.

I will send the spark. I will start the reaction.

Incendium Heart.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Strange Things Be Going On

I stumbled into the door of the library, tripping over the step and falling on my face. I didn't really feel like moving, so that's where I stayed. I pulled myself through the door and kicked it shut. Nobody needed to see me in pain. My wing felt like it was slowly burning up and being electrified at the same time. I pressed it into the floor, thinking pressure might stem the pain, but that only made it worse. I gritted my teeth and tried to stop from crying out. Really…life hurts guys.

It really does.

Especially for a Pegasus.

I think I passed out. When I woke up, somepony (I gotta get into the habit of saying that) was touching my flank. I flipped out and jerked my body away from whoever was touching me, but that didn't get me anywhere. My head slammed into something else, something firm but soft. Another pony. I opened my eyes and looked at two eyes which were looking in different directions. Derpy! :D

My joy lasted for a millisecond before pain shocked through my back. A firm voice, British, said, "Hold still, for Time-Lord's sake! I can't analyze your wound unless you do! I've half a mind to knock you back out so I can work properly!" Doctor Whooves sighed and pressed something into my wing. I gasped and was suddenly hyperactive. I had to move. But I couldn't. the Doctor ordered Derpy Hooves to press down on my shoulders to hold me down. I thought she'd be easy to get away from, but the pressure she had on my shoulders was quite strong.

I forced myself to stay still. I calmed my breathing slowly, and relaxed my muscles. I looked around. I was laying in Twilight Sparkle's bed. Now, if that wasn't awkward enough, I had Derpy leaning over my and the Doctor with a hand on my chest checking my pulse and his other on my wing. If Twilight came home…

*BAM*

She did. The door swung shut. "I came as soon as I could, Doctor! I was held up by…" she saw me. "Shadow. Explain."

"I was with Vinyl Scratch and Octavia-AHH!" The Doctor stabbed a needle into me. "That HURT!" I complained.

"Shutup and talk to Twilight."

I sighed and turned to Twilight. "I was with Vinyl and Octavia, and I saw something fly past their window, and I wanted to see who it was. I mean, I was wondering if it was Rainbow Dash. Because I wanted to meet her. But when I flew up to the roof, she tackled me and knocked me off the roof, and I landed on my wing, and she forced me down. But she looked weird, like her colors were tweaked and-AHAHHH!" I glared at the Doctor. He looked impassively at me. "Her colors were weird and different, and her eyes were black., like, no pupils or anything. She stared at me for a second, then she flew off and I came back here."

Twilight looked at me. The Doctor spoke first. "Discord?" he asked Twilight.

"No, because when Discord showed up, he didn't kidnap anybody, he just sucked the friendship out of them, and took the Elements of Harmony. Rainbow Dash has been missing for three days now. If she shows up, and she's different, we have a serious problem. I suppose it COULD be Discord, but that doesn't make sense. He's a courier for the Canterlot Royal Guard. Trixie was held in Canterlot, free to do as she pleases without leaving the city, and Luna hasn't had and obvious signs of rebellion against Princess Celestia. So…I suppose the Queen could be back, but she was banished and trapped in the Crystal Empire in a magically protected prison. As far as I know she is slowly starving from lack of emotional consumption. She shouldn't last more than another year. Really, there's no explanation, but that isn't Rainbow Dash. If you see her again, run. I've got better things to worry about than you."

The Doctor stabbed me again, and my body felt numb, and I lost feeling through my chest and lower body. Only my head felt normal. But I couldn't move. "Derpy," the Doctor said, "please go outside. Find Pinkie Pie, and tell her a story. I'm sorry, but you can't be here to hear this."

Derpy nodded. "Bye Shadow!" she said excitedly, then left.

The second the door closed, Twilight jumped on top of the bed where I lay and pushed her nose into my face. "Where did you come from?"

I did this weird little twitch thing where my body flinched and I almost bashed my head into Twilight. "What? I don't even…what?"

"Where. Did. You. COME. FROM?"

The Doctor was watching calmly. I looked, scared, into Twilight's eyes. "California. America. Saugus. Across the country from the human version of Manehattan, hundred miles from Las Pegasus, why?"

"You admit you are a human. Why are you here?"

"I don't know. Technically, by all human records and rights and views, I was killed by an electric shock just over twenty-four hours ago. Terrorism. I don't know."

"LIAR!"

God, this Twilight Sparkle was so different from the show. She was forceful, had a nasty side to her. But then, this wasn't the show. This was life, for them. I was scared, and confused. "What makes you think I'm lying?" I asked, my heart-rate shooting up.

"Sure, I believe where you're from. But what I don't believe, is that you are here by accident. Ask the Doctor how he got here!" She jumped off the table and sat, fuming, in a chair.

The Doctor leaned over me. He pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver. He lasered it down the length of my torso, then flicked it up to his face. "Do you know how I got here?" he asked me.

"Yes,"

"Tell me."

"The TARDIS had a slight malfunction, and you ended up here. You stepped out of the TARDIS as a pony, a stallion, without a companion, and met Derpy Hooves, who introduced you to Ponyville and brought you here."

"What does TARDIS stand for?"

"Time And Relative Dimensions In Space."

"Now, how did you know that?"

"Uh….."

"What was the name of my last companion?"

I listed off the names I could remember. " Rose, Mickey, Clara, Amy, Rory, Martha, Donna, I don't know! You've had several!"

"Who are Clara, Amy, and Rory?"

"Uh…"

"You know the future. Tell me."

I gulped. Shit.

"You are in your tenth regeneration cycle. Your current companion is Derpy Hooves, previous companion I have no idea. My guess is Rose. Maybe Martha. You are a Time Lord, commonly of people who ask, Doctor Who?. Nobody knows your name, and those who have found out, you caused something to happen in which they forget your name. Your enemy is the Master, and beyond that I can't think of anything."

The Doctor looked at me like he was expecting all of this. "You have an banquet of knowledge concerning my past and future. Now, you are, or, were, in this case, a human. I was a human, rather, I looked human, but I am a Time Lord. Now I am in this form. You have changed form. We want to know why. You don't have a past here. Nurse Redheart asked Derpy Hooves about when she supposedly brought you into the hospital with Thunderlane, but Derpy doesn't remember the event, and neither does Thunderlane. You don't have a life, nobody knows you, and Pinkie Pie claims to know everyone. You just appeared in that hospital bed, with registration and papers and signed documents, like you've been there for days. Then, Twilight's memory spell doesn't work. And suddenly, you've become acquainted with each pony involved with the six Elements of Harmony. Now, what we want to know, is what you plan to do from here. Twilight told me about Zecora's prophecy, which she relayed to you in rhymed lines. Now, I want you to tell me exactly what you think when hearing these words.

_When all is said and done_

_If the Shadow has not become_

_The Knight worthy of digmi seven_

_All shall be lost, no more heaven_

_Hell will rise_

_And darkness consume_

_If peace and prosperity_

_Do not bloom,"_

"I am part of something called _digmi _seven."

"Fair assessment. Have you any idea what that might mean?"

I could feel my wing start to ache. "No. I don't know what that might mean."

"Anything else?"

"If I don't become worthy of bearing _digmi _seven, then hell will rise and the whole damned world will explode." I decided to use sarcasm, not to be funny, but because I was getting annoyed.

"Technically, you could be correct."

Damn it. I hated when sarcasm didn't work.

"Joy. How nice. Now can you give me something that will remove the numbness so I can move?"

Twilight looked at me. "No."

How pleasant.

"Why not?"

"Because we aren't done."

"What's left?"

"Well, we have one more question, and an explanation you need. Which would you prefer to start with? No, never mind, questions first. How do you know so much about the Doctor here, and Ponyville, Equestria in general? You aren't from Eternity's Crossing, as you told Applejack, and wherever you are from, you know things we don't."

I breathed in. this was going downhill. What the hell was I going to say? 'Oh, you guys are from TV shows where I'm from, and we like to point and laugh at you guys because you do a lot of funny things.' Yeah, hell no. I started slow.

"We have this thing called television."

The Doctor spoke. "TV's, yes, I'm familiar with them. Very interesting objects, they are."

"Well, yes. But, where I come from, America, there are two TV shows that you two are the main characters of. Twilight, you, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity are the main characters of a show called 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'. Now, the show was typically meant for girls of a younger age, but…"

"Wait."

"What?"

"You mean to tell me, that me and my friends are part of a story created by stupid humans? Are you insane? Is this all a damn joke to you?"

"I'm not lying. I'm serious. Let me finish."

Twilight Sparkle sat back in her chair, throwing her hooves across her chest. "Fine. Keep talking."

"The show was meant for younger girls, but as it continued, boys and men of adolescent ages and full adults began watching and enjoying the show, commonly known as 'Bronies'. I was one of them, they had clubs all over America, meetings, parties, the whole works. That's how I know so much. Applejack probably told you that I knew much about certain events that happened here. She's right. I know most everything about you, Twilight, starting from when you began living in Ponyville."

Twilight looked at me like I was insane, and who knew, maybe I was.

The Doctor looked at me next. "And how exactly do you know about me?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I couldn't let these ponies intimidate me. "Essentially the same thing, we have a show called Doctor Who. We have seen nearly all of your life, starting from your first regeneration cycle. However, we often take it more seriously than…My Little Pony."

"And why the hell is that?" Twilight yelled at me. "Do I not look serious to you? Ever? Remember when I was desperate to get a letter to Celestia about friendship, but had nothing to write to her about? Was that not serious enough for you? Or when Pinkie Pie when psychotic because we wouldn't go to Gummy's eightieth birthday party? Not serious enough for you? How about our ordeal with King Sombra at the Crystal Empire? That's pretty damn serious if you ask me!"

I started getting mad. "TWILIGHT! To us, the bronies, we thought, all of this!" I gestured to the world of Equestria in general, "was fake! A world made up by a popular animator! What am I supposed to do, when suddenly it's real? We all laughed at your insanity issues! We have fun at your expense! We have fan fictions! We've made up different personalities for Celestia! We have Lyra who loves hands! We have Gamer Luna! We have CLOPPING, for Christ's sake! What the hell do you want from me? And where's my explanation for this?!"

Twilight started giving me this deep, loathing glare. Shit. Rapidash Twilight. I tried to force my legs to move, but they wouldn't. I cursed under my breath. The Doctor sat back and leaned against the wall, watching.

"When Zecora finished her prophecy, I made a mental note. I memorized it on the spot, and copied it down. Now, when I came back home, I worked furiously to understand the meaning of the word _digmi, _but to no avail. I found nothing. But when I told the Doctor, he went into his blue box, and thirty seconds later, he told me. It the word of an ancient language, one I've read about in only books. Nobody has spoken it for thousands of years, it was the ancient language of the ancestral demons, those who ruled before Celestia and Luna. The word _digmi _means 'Element'. You know what that means? We have the Elements of Harmony." Twilight flashed her magic and levitated the glass case containing the relics up by the bed. I looked at them, gazing thoughtfully at what this could mean. "This means that all of our assumptions have been wrong. There was never an original six Elements, Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, Honesty, and Magic. There was one more. We don't know anything about it, except the power it contains.

"The seventh element contains the all-powerful eternal strength of Darkness. The Darkness was considered forbidden magic. Only those who used it were claimed falsely of and executed. If one were to use it now, the power would likely rend you in half, tearing your spirit from your body and spilling your blood into a pool of magical fire. Nobody could help you. This magic, it is beyond powerful. To consider it as one of the six, rather, seven, Elements of Harmony is highly counterproductive, as Darkness and the power of the Shade can in no way assist in Harmonizing Equestria."

"And what the hell do you want me to do?"

"DAMMIT SHADOW! Were you listening at all when Zecora was talking? YOU are the wielder of the seventh element! It's why you are here! Now, I don't know what bastard is planning that we would have to employ such magic to ourselves, but we need to find this _digmi_. I don't know where it is, nobody does, I've sent a letter to Celestia to ask her if she knew anything, and I await her response. In the meantime, you are not to leave Ponyville, not even to the Forest. You may not approach anypony, you may not SPEAK of this to anypony, and you must certainly not try to kill yourself to avoid this situation!"

My pony life is pretty messed up, yes?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I Am Apparently Ruptured, and Another Gone

I woke up, sweat streaming down my face. I was having nightmares. Two days ago, after they told me all those things, about me, and magic and the seventh Element, and all that crap, my mind overclocked itself and I almost fainted. I won't tell you about yesterday or the evening after my little argument with Twilight, because nothing overly important happened. I went to sleep, woke up with nightmares about Rainbow Dash, and tonight I practically had a first view from Rainbow Dash's perspective during the Cupcakes fanfiction I had read so long ago. Yesterday I stayed at Twilight's all day, reading the Daring Do series. I understood why Rainbow liked it so much, and I didn't have a need to leave, so I just kept reading. I got through three of the books.

Now, it was probably around four in the morning, by my standards, because I had an annoying habit of staying up exceedingly late back when I was a human. So, what the hell am I going to do at four in the morning, other than try to go back to sleep, but sleep wasn't appealing because of the nightmares. I quietly slipped out of my bed, crept to the door, as quietly as hooves would allow, and I slowly opened it, and closed it once more behind me. I had hardly made a sound. Awesome.

Now what?

I thought about what I would do _outside _at four in the morning. Walk. Run. Scream. Set off fire alarms. SET fires. :3

Do fun things to annoy people.

Pft, naw. That wouldn't work.

Twilight would rage again, and then kill me.

I jumped into the air, knowing wings would make less noise that hooves on the dirt outside. Of course, I wasn't going to leave Ponyville, but I wanted to see if there was anything interesting to do at the crack of dawn.

I felt like pranking someone. The only person who actually enjoyed good pranks and wouldn't destroy anything out of anger was the only person who was actually simple-minded enough to prank. So I turned toward Sugarcube Corner, and looked into the attic window. Pinkie Pie's bed was empty.

{(CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG: PINKIE PIE LIVES IN SUGARCUBE CORNER YES? FROM THE EPISODES THAT I RECALL, SHE SEEMED TO BE LIVING IN THE TOP FLOOR OF THE BUILDING.)}

I analyzed the room, thinking of the things I could do. If she was gone, then I'd have more time. If she was simply running to the bathroom and back, I'd have to work fast. But honestly, what could I do, that she hasn't done before?

I counted myself a failure and decided against doing anything. I pulled away from the window, dropped to the ground, and started walking back to Twilight's house. The morning was almost upon Ponyville, so I looked up at the sky to watch the sunrise.

_Mind-bending thoughts. Pain. Destruction. The bubbling soul of the mystics duplication hovered, then slammed down into the mind of it's target. The resistance was strong, yet it was just as weak. The barriers around the target's mind, they melted before the soul. He seeped into the mind of his target._

I felt a small touch on my back.

I turned around, and a hard something collided with my head. I hit the ground, lights flashing behind my eyes, and red spots flickering in front of me. Pain spiked across my body, and my head throbbed. I turned onto my back.

A face devoid of happiness, pleasure, and fun stared into my eyes. I truly felt fear, seeing this, the pink face full of demented rage, the hair straightened out and forced out of it's random curls. Even worse, as I had seen with Rainbow Dash, the dark pools that formed the eyes, the black nightmare gaze, of what appeared to be a far more threatening Pinkamena than described by any of the fanfiction writers. As she raised her right hoof to crush my skull, as I seemed to think she was intending to do, a shriek sounded from directly to my right, and a white flash streaked above me, knocking the pink demon from above me. I scrambled to my hooves, raw reflexes kicking in. I prepared myself for a fight, and then saw who my rescuer had been. Vinyl Scratch stood facing Pinkamena, the two mares pairing off like sword dancers, without the swords and real hate in each others eyes.

I was about to shout a warning to Vinyl, when suddenly a shroud of blackness erupted from the ground around Pinkamena's hooves, and she vanished, leaving behind the acrid smell of acid and smoke. "Vinyl!" I yelled, at the same time as another pristine voice.

"You MURDERER! What did you DO to her?!" I turned around quickly and saw Rarity advancing on Vinyl. I was surprised that she was up this early in the morning. But that didn't matter. I stepped between her and Scratch, defending my rescuer.

"RARITY! That wasn't Pinkie! It was-" she ignored my, shoved me aside, and rammed Vinyl into the dirt.

"Why did you kill her?!" Rarity had a strong voice so filled with rage, I almost panicked. She was never like this, at least, not that I had seen.

Vinyl tried to defend herself. "Hey, chill, that pony was gonna kill my friend here, and I didn't-"

But Rarity wouldn't here it. "MURDERER! LEAVE! Go now! LEAVE and don't come back! GET OUT!" Vinyl glanced hopelessly at me, but I couldn't say anything to sway Rarity. The white DJ fled back toward the center of Ponyville. Rarity advanced on me next. "TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!" She roared.

I tripped backward and landed in the dirt. "Pinkamena attacked me! She was going to kill me! And then she disappeared!"

Rarity glared at me, while several ponies ran up the streets toward us, among them The Doctor, Twilight, the Mayor, and Octavia. I ran to Twilight, but she stopped, push her face into mine, and said harshly, "Don't leave. We need to settle this." then she kept running toward Rarity, who was fuming in the dirt.

Octavia stopped next to me. "What happened to Vinyl?" she said, her voice despairing and painful. I shook my head, nausea seeping into my brain. The gray pony fled back the way Vinyl had gone. I looked to where Twilight was standing, soothing Rarity and calming the fashionista down.

Doctor Whooves suddenly appeared at my side. "What happened to Pinkie Pie?" he asked, his stare calming and full of concern.

"Her eyes..." I stammered. "Her eyes...like Rainbow Dash's eyes..." I collapsed on the ground, my head hitting something hard and my vision going black.

When I woke up, the issue had been resolved, Twilight had been forced to use an illegal memory spell on Rarity, Vinyl had been found and questioned, and then all the ponies involved converged on me. Awesome. More unwanted attention. Rather than going off the entire conversation by memory, I will just give the jist of the conversation. Twilight wouldn't let me move from the bed, without the numbing stuff, until I had answered her question, which was, how similar was the pony I had encountered to the Rainbow Dash duplicate? I answered very similar, which concerned her. She sat in silence for several minutes, her head resting on a table. Doctor Whooves was absent from the room. After a while, she came to the conclusion that a series of attacks was being made on the wielders of the six Elements of Harmony, and that eventually all six of them would be caught and taken. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, who was next?

It could even be Twilight herself, but she didn't mention that possibility. It went well past morning, the hours we spent, talking, conversing, paining ourselves over the hope that perhaps there was a solution to all this madness. Twilight went into three or four mad rants that involved stomping up and down the stairs, yelling and cursing, screaming at the spirits, raving to Celestia, who of course couldn't hear her.

I tried to remain calm. But it couldn't work. I was degenerated into a shadow (ironic, isn't it) of myself, hyperventilating and muttering quotes from books that I had read, more specifically fiction ones (eg. Eragon, Hunger Games, Warriors, Maximum Ride, etc.{COPYWRITE NOTE: I DO NOT OWN OR PRETEND TO OWN ANY IF THE AFOREMENTIONED COMPANIES/MERCHANDISE/PRODUCTS})

After hours of this debate, outrage, anger, pain, and a cup of tea provided by the Doctor, Twilight fell asleep and the Doctor told me to clear out and take a walk. Stay outside, calm down, give Twilight Sparkle time. I walked far from the house, found a tree in a field outside Ponyville, flew up into it, perched on one of the branches, and sat there literally until sunset. I sung to myself from several songs, not only including My Little Pony, but from various musical groups. This was yet another chaotic day, that Twilight hadn't been able to deal with calmly.

Depression. It exists.


	13. Chapter 13 (Part 1)

Chapter 13:

Diamonds and Butterflies

A week had passed. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash had made no appearances. I was beginning to think that perhaps they were gone forever, but one thing brought them back.

Rather.

Two things.

The first was a strange event that had rocked Ponyville to it's roots. We lost three. Three ponies.

The second. I'm sure you can guess at this point.

"CHANGELINGS!" Berry Punch yelled as she ran screaming through Ponyville. The Doctor glanced at her, then at the sky, which was beginning to become dotted with black specks. I launched myself back toward Twilight's house, my wings beating up and down with stronger muscles. Over the last few days, Derpy and Fluttershy had been giving me exercises to strengthen my wings and provide additional longevity. Turns out, Fluttershy had been hiding a talent for flying, but she still refused to move faster than a certain speed.

Anyways, Berry Punch's announcement sent the residents of Ponyville insane. Many ponies ran around trying to barricade themselves in their homes. Twilight stopped in the center of Ponyville, used a levitation spell on herself, and maneuvered herself on top of the main building. She powered her magic, then pointed her horn skyward and launched a purple laser vertically into the air. One hundred feet above the ground, at least seventy feet about where I was, floating in midair, the purple beam exploded and a shimmering dome encircled the majority of Ponyville, only missing a few buildings, including Sweet Apple Acres, and Fluttershy's cottage. Ponies scattered everywhere. I managed to corral a few into Twilight's library, and others into the various homes around the area. Vinyl Scratch and Octavia had several in their home already. I suddenly had a thought. Applejack would still bet at Sweet Apple Acres. She would do anything to protect her family's legacy. I launched myself toward the rapidly closing shield. Twilight yelled at me, but I ignored her. I dove underneath the purple barrier just as it closed, dropping onto the end of my tail, which I yanked loose and kept flying, low to the ground, straight toward the huge barn, which Applejack had herded Big Macintosh and Granny Smith into. I knew they had a wine cellar somewhere in there, so I rushed toward it, nearly ramming into the side of the barn.

AJ saw me and waved me inside. I dropped to the hay-covered floor. My wings throbbed. Applejack looked at me frantically. "Have ya'll seen Apple Bloom? I can't find her anywheres, and who knows what the hay could have happened tah her!" AJ sat down in a corner, pressing her hooves against her temples, beginning to hyperventilate, going into a shock rant about how she'd never forgive herself if Apple Bloom died or was injured.

I let my wings rest for a moment, then I stood up, and flew up to the window high above the loft. The hundreds of Changelings had gathered around the purple sphere, ready to overrun the place. Many of them had already changed into copies of the dozens of ponies in Ponyville. I was puzzled. The amount around the town had seemed a small number compared to what I had seen in the sky five minutes ago. There was only two places they could have gone.

The Everfree Forest, or...

Here.

Damn it.

The second this revelation hit me, a black hoof hit me too. Fortunately though, I was tense, and the blow did not deal as much damage as it should have. I wrapped the black arm in my foreleg and yanked the changeling through the window, kicking it as it flew by my legs. The black body dropped to the ground.

In the second that had taken, more changelings had gathered around the barn. I could see them, hundreds, all surrounding the barn and peeking in through the few windows around the top. Applejack looked up, and a look of pure rage crossed her face. "Ya'll tried to beat me once, and I kicked all ya'll asses, and now Ah am gonna do it again!" Big Mac stood next to her, anger in his expression as well. I dropped down, swooped back up and out of the barn, and found fifteen or so changelings sitting on the roof, in various forms. I slowed the beat of my wings, and silently flapped toward them. At the last second, I pounded my wings against the air and rammed into two of the changelings, knocking one out cold and off the roof, and the other sliding backward toward the others. I dropped to the roof, ticked that these black demons were attempting to take over again. Chrysalis was in prison in the Crystal Empire, she couldn't have called together this army.

I charged.

The first tow changelings went down, one by my hoof smashing into his temple, and the other as I whipped around, old reflexes snapping back, caught him under the chin, threw him to the roof tiles, and slammed my hoof into his chest. I heard a crack as several of his ribs snapped and fractured, then he slowly slid down the roof. The dozen others rallied together, attempting to ring me in a circle. I wouldn't let them. I flapped my wings, and spun through the air,catching one in the side of the head with my hoof, and another in the stomach with my head. Had I been a unicorn, he would have been impaled and killed. Unfortunately, he was only winded.

Two other changelings charged me. I was ready for them. One feinted to the left, and ducked under the swing of my hoof, and hit me in the ribs, bruising them and driving the breath from my body. I managed to strike out with my hind leg, hitting him in the forehead with the bottom of my hoof. The rest all seemed to converge at once. My ribs stung, and I managed to hit a few, throwing around punches and kicking out behind me when necessary.

One changeling managed to kick me just behind me wing, driving me to the roof and forcing me down. I began sliding down, so I grabbed one of the changelings by the back leg and pulled, dragging him behind me. When the roof no longer supported us, I threw him around and smacked him in the face, enough to cause him pain and make him blink with distraction. As the ground was upon us, I flapped my wings and forced him underneath me, landing on him and crushing his ribs. I jumped away from the body and slipped sideways, the injury to my back causing severe pain.

I heard a scream from inside the barn. Forcing myself into a run, I crashed through the partially open door and beheld a frightening sight.

AJ and Big Mac were fighting for their lives, several dozen changelings surrounding them. Granny Smith wasn't in sight. I yelled as loud as I could, and charged, clipping a changeling on the back of the head, then rushing between two more, kicking one viciously and throwing my arms around the second , pulling him to the ground. I ripped my forelegs around, snapping his neck, and jumped back up. The slight distraction caused AJ to rear up and smash an enemy beneath her deadly powerful hooves. Big Mac pummeled down several changelings, swinging heavy punches around at the little demons.


	14. Chapter 13 (Part 2)

Chapter 13:

Diamonds and Butterflies

(Part 2)

As AJ, Big Mac, and I were fighting for our lives, and it seemed that the numbers were decreasing, and the enemy was perhaps going to lose.

We fought our hardest, throwing punches, kicks, killing blows, breaking bone and bruising skin. Big Mac took a hard hit to his hind legs, unbalancing him, then four or five changelings forced him to the ground. I dove on top of one, knocking out his breath and laying him to the dirt, then turned on another, slamming my hoof into his stomach, then hit him across the throat.

Suddenly, a loud yell sounded outside the barn. The door banged open , and in charged three ponies, all running straight into the conflict, The Doctor leading them, the other two Twilight and Rarity. I turned back to the miniature war in the Sweet Apple barn, and brought my hoof down on the head of a changeling who had been shocked by the appearance of more resistance.

Excited for the extra help, I took more risks in order to eradicate the enemy, killing rather than injuring, throwing myself into the conflict where I would have normally held back. Twilight was firing magic bolts from her horn, Rarity was enraged and pulling down the changelings one at a time, and the Doctor had dropped his normal "run and let them follow us, we can destroy them somehow" to a full out fighting threat.

At some point, the changelings had dropped the fighting spirit and fallen back, scrambling over themselves to get away from six angry ponies. I managed to haul one back and hold on to him. I would have loved to have killed him, but Twilight stomped up to him, grabbing his neck and throwing him to the floor. "Why did you attack us?!" She yelled at him.

"It issss our command." the changeling blinked at her and smiled, showing rows of pitch black fangs.

"Who commands you? Chrysalis is imprisoned!"

"Chryssssalisss is not our only masssssterrr..." the changeling hissed at Twilight, and tried to pull away , but Twilight Sparkle kicked him in the side of the head, killing him instantly. She thrust the body in disgust.

"The village is in a panic, and most of the changelings escaped. We need to help those who are injured, and..." she stopped and looked at Applejack.

The orange mare was sitting over two lumps of flesh, one sickly green and the other deep red. Tears fell in a steady stream from her face.

Big Macintosh lay on the ground, a dead changeling underneath him and blood seeping from his mouth in a steady stream. His back legs were broken, and his neck was twisted at an unnatural angle. Granny Smith had apparently been unable to fight and was therefore overpowered easily and murdered.

I dropped down to the floor, exhaustion and shock setting into my nerves. My muscles hurt, and all the bruises I had received suddenly sparked back into existence with a rush of pain. My head vibrated, and then I felt my head hit the floor and a shout from the Doctor.

Apparently a few hours later I woke up, and saw a bright light, saw Twilight trying to speak to me, but heard nothing, and dropped back into a rough sleep.

I hate nightmares.

A number of old memories from my previous human existence popped into my tiny little weird mind.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

A sudden urge to find a towel struck me. Then I thought about Improbability Drives. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters.

Explosive muffins. Cupcakes. Massacre. Fallout. Existence. Philosophy. Intelligence. Engineering. Taj Mahal. Uncivil humans.

Blaring light.

I blinked away the annoying flash.

My mind assured me that I was awake.


	15. Chapter 13 (Part 3)

Chapter 13:

Diamonds and Butterflies

(Part 3)

I opened my eyes and immediately snapped them shut again because a wave of pain launched through my head. Of all the sicknesses and pains and irritations and toothaches and all the crap, headaches, however minor they are, are my most hated condition. Images roiled through my head and brought memories and fears back to my head that previously were of little significance for a meaningful amount of consequential time.

Anyways, when I finally cracked my eyes open, my first vision was what appeared to be something that looked like it was going to suck my face off, but after my eyes adjusted and my heart stopped pounding, I realized I had a respirator attached to me. I turned my head and saw the Doctor asleep in a chair, and on the other side was Nurse Redheart, reading a few things off a screen. She looked up, noticing I had regained consciousness. "Good," she said. "Twilight! He's awake!" she called out the open door. Upon further investigation of my surroundings I had observed that I was in the same hospital room that I had begun my mad adventure in. Twilight Sparkle entered the room, a grim expression on her face. My hopes of good news dropped.

"Shadow Knight. Please listen. I will not require you to speak, I will simply tell you."

She sat down on her rump on the edge of the bed. She took a deep breath, then began speaking. "Shortly after you practically committed suicide going past the border before it came down, you didn't see it, but the changeling army shattered the field. Almost immediately after this, another pony whom I had not met before appeared next to me and shot up a beam of light that seemed to emit fire. A shield went up, clearly stronger than mine, and the changelings were forced out again. Now, this pony seemed to be a living embodiment of fire, I don't think you've met Spitfire yet, but this pony was almost like her, but she was a unicorn, and she seemed to be made of bronze, the color of her fur so like the metallic color of the particular alloy in reference. Her mane was black and streaked with red, and her cutie mark was a flaring ember." Twilight blinked at me to make sure I was listening. I had seen this pony before, sometime on my first day in Equestria. I vaguely remembered the mare. "Eventually the changelings broke through her shield as well," she continued, "and then she performed a piece of magic I had thought only Princess Celestia capable of. She somehow gathered light around her and then pushed it out in a flaming sphere that passed harmlessly through the town, but burned most of the changelings straight to ashes. Several got away, but they're gone. Several ponies were hurt."

I blinked, my heart rate going back up. The respirator made a weird noise.

Twilight continued. "Even more saddening, though, is that Fluttershy and Rarity seem to have disappeared. I fear that they were subject to the same fate as that of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Applejack and I are the last wielders of the Elements of Harmony left. I want to find them. Now, before we go anywhere else, which, unfortunately, you won't be, as Nurse Redheart seems intent on keeping you here for the next two days, I want you to meet the pony who saved Ponyville from the attack. Hey!" she called out the door. "You can come in now!"

In walked a pony with the description exactly as Twilight had said. Her body a bright bronze, her main and tail black and red, her cutie mark a blotch of fire. She walked with a dignity that seemed to put down all others, but her face showed compassion and kindness closely challenging Fluttershy. She plodded to my side, and looked down at me with those two amazingly soft eyes, which, Twilight had failed to mention, were royal purple. "Hey," she said. Her voice reminded me spectacularly of a friend I had had as a human. "I'm Amber Flare. I'm sorry you can't talk, I'd love to converse with you, but you seem to be only able to listen." she turned to Twilight Sparkle. "When you go to find your friends, I want to go with you. I believe myself to have found my true purpose, and it is not here. Please take me with you."

Twilight tilted her head. "I would say that it will be dangerous, but as of your magical display in the village, I doubt that would deter you. Also, I am sure you could be of great use to us on our quest. Therefore, yes, if it is your desire, you may come with us. But keep in mind all of this is extremely serious. If you are hurt, or impaired in some fashion, we will have to continue with out you. Shadow, you will come with us, as will the Doctor," she nodded to the sleeping stallion, "and probably Vinyl Scratch, but I have yet to pose the inquiry. This, I would like you to do. When you are released from this room, you must speak to her. When Rarity marked her as a murderer, it deeply harmed her reputation. Do you understand?"

I nodded, as small a nod as I could manage with causing myself pain or shifting the respirator.

"Good. Amber, please go home. I will speak with you again soon." the fiery pony left the room, then a flash appeared in the hall, which I think means she teleported. I heard a voice to my right.

I turned my head as the Doctor spoke. "She is powerful. I can tell. Something about being a Time-Lord, I suppose. Twilight, I hate to say that she may be even more powerful than you. Those attacks she performed yesterday, they were of an unprecedented magnitude."

"I had surmised as much, thanks. I know for a fact that I am not the most proficient magic user in Equestria, although I am told that few match me. A lot of people are confident in my abilities."

I listened as they conversed about one thing or another, but my head had started hurting again, and I slowly dropped back to sleep.


	16. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

Vinyl Scratch

The next day Nurse Redheart let me out of that imprisoning building. I hate hospitals. My body was mostly numb, so it was difficult walking. Legs. The bane of existence. Meh.

My life sucks at this moment. In two days we are leaving, Twilight Sparkle, me, Amber Flare, and Applejack. We're going to go find the four ponies who went missing. And hopefully, Vinyl Scratch will come too. Music would be nice on the road.

Let's skip ahead a few hours.

After the numbing had begun to go away and leave weird aches in places I didn't know existed, I went over to Vinyl and Octavia's house. I inquired of Vinyl, and Octavia sent me up the steps to her room, which was decorated with vinyl records and pictures of musicians. A huge cut-out of her cutie mark hung from the ceiling. Vinyl was sitting on a window seat and staring out with a depressed expression at the countryside. My hooves made little noise on the soft, electric blue carpet. She didn't move. I sat down next to her.

Still no reaction.

Only when I reached out to touch her did she make any action, and she didn't move, she spoke.

"They all hate me."

To be honest, had this happened in real life, even with a close friend, I would have no idea what to say. So, I just did the most logical thing that I had seen in a lot of movies and read in books.

"No, Vinyl, they don't."

"Shadow, they do. They all hate me. And nothing I can do about it. My career is gone, nopony is gonna want to listen to my music. I guess I could leave and go somewhere where I don't have an imaginary criminal record."

"Vinyl, stop. Nopony hates you. Well, maybe some do, but I don't. I love your music. (I couldn't tell her that I had once been human and that LivingTombstone and WoodenToaster and the like had created music "for" her, but, couldn't tell her that.)"

"Shadow, it's more than that. I had a reputation. I had it going good. I lived a nice life. People come to the club. They listen to my music. They loved me. And now, Rarity has to go run her mouth off, and now I am a murderous DJ. My life is gone." A single tear dropped down her face and landed on the window seat. She drooped her head and started sobbing.

I placed a hoof on her shoulder. I spoke softly, as softly as a "manly" voice can manage (I say 'manly', because, 'stallionly' isn't even...like...yeah) "Vinyl, it's okay. Don't cry. Octavia can help you. I can help. Twilight Sparkle can-"

She cut me off. "No! I don't want help! I just..." she dropped back into tears again. I sat there, a kind of emotionally insane sadness welling into me.

A few minutes passed like this, during which her tears started to ebb away. She calmed down, but her breathing had quickened.

When she was silent again, I spoke. "Me and Twilight and another pony, and Applejack, we're leaving in a couple days. We're going to go find the two-er, four missing ponies. (I had hardly registered in my brain that Rarity and Fluttershy had gone as well.) And, well, Vinyl, we want you to come with us."

She was silent.

"Vinyl...?"

Her horn sparked with magic. The door to her room closed. My heart rate went up.

More silence.

Vinyl looked up.

She looked me dead in the eyes. Her hooves shoved against my shoulders and pushed me back against the wall. I got frantic. My heart rate shot up like a rocket (metaphorically, children). Maybe she had been turned, like Rainbow Dash, and she was going to kill me. But when I saw her eyes weren't black and creepy, my heartbeat started acting like a train (metaphorically, children). Vinyl pushed her face into mine and kissed me. I was so absolutely undeniably shocked that I kind of had a heart attack. But of course, kissing is that weird moment where everything relaxes except your heart.

Vinyl held the contact for a few seconds, then pulled back, and leaned back against the other side of the window. I slumped down, then straightened again, positive that my face was bright read, despite my fur being midnight blue.

"Hell yeah," Vinyl Scratch said. Her voice seemed to have gone back to normal. "I'm going with you."

I smiled, and got to my hooves to leave. As I opened the door, she said, "Hey!" I turned back and looked at her. Her face had gone red, much more noticeable than my embarrassment. "Thanks," she said.

I nodded, smiled, and left the room.

/########################

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is not meant to become a clopfic/shipfic. I try my best not to ship/clop, don't go nuts over it. It seemed appropriate, so I implemented it. I will not accept hate mail.)


	17. Response

Chapter Between Chapters

On:

An anonymous review I received.

Ok, so I've noticed several things reading up to this chapter. Right off the bat I notice that you describe things a lot with incomplete fragments. You shouldn't do that unless you are a well established author and it is appropriate to your style of writing. Now every now and then is one thing but it seems to be for most of your descriptions you do this. Another thing is all these side notes in parenthesis. They are extremely unnecessary. Everyone who is reading this has watched MLP, otherwise why would they be reading an MLP fanfic? So there is no real need to say (Excuse me, not crazy, RANDOM).  
Since we have watched the series we know the context of crazy is being used as random rather than insane. Also as an author you should assume that all references outside the canon series is not known to the reader. Mentioning the TARDIS for example, what if a reader is not a Whovian. They will ask "Whats a Tardis?" How are you going to explain this properly, another side note? The side notes are not really a good thing to use. Another thing about this I've noticed is that most of it is fangirling. The side note after mentioning the TARDIS leads me to believe that you included it just to include it. Thats not really good writing. You never include random details that have no meaning whatsoever. Whats the point of seeing the TARDIS? Why do you need to point it out? WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE!? Thats what writing is all about. Everything needs to serve a purpose. Don't waste details on satisfying your inner fangirl/fanboy. Now including some nice amounts of your own head canon is ok, but this whole thing so far seems to be obsessing over all your favorite things as a fan.

I was afraid something like this would happen. Reader, I appreciate you telling me this, actually. However, on the fangirling, The idea was to make it like this had actually happened, because, who WOULDN'T fangirl if Equestria suddenly existed? Now, on the other note, the low explanations. Sometimes, I don't think things need explanation, other times it requires an explanation. So, dear anonymous reader, and to all my other readers.

I had not planned on saying this yet, but this review I believe needs me to say it.

This Fan Fiction is not permanent.

I am going to delete it eventually, once I get around 20 or so chapters, and restart it, using all the suggestions and things, and make it refined. This is basically the idea, so that people could give me input, before I throw my final story out, on this site as well as on FIMfiction.

Thanks for reading, guys, and, anonymous reviewer, please, I extremely appreciate this feedback. It actually means a lot to me that you would take the time to write all that out and point out the flaws in my writing. Thank you. -DashieXSoarin'


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